dannyual777

Car has 25,000 miles and I've owned it since day one.

About 3 weeks ago, I jumped in my car to take my little girl to school. The car was in the garage and it hadn't been driven in a couple of days. Shifter was in first gear and I depressed the clutch pedal and twisted the key. The car instantly lurched forward and I instinctively slammed on the brakes. Thankfully the car just barely "kissed" a stack of plywood sitting in front of my car and the only damage was some scuffed clearcoat.

Anyway, I've done hours and hours of research on these hydraulic clutches and realize that I should've been doing some clutch fluid swaps during the 10+yrs that I've owned the car. The fluid is black, of course.

The car is on jackstands right now ready for me to start working on it. There are no hydraulic leaks under the car so there's no "smoking gun." Like many other people with hydraulic clutch problems, I don't really know what part(s) are broken. My thoughts are to just replace the master cylinder (do the drill mod), replace the slave cylinder and replace all of the fluid with fresh.

I know that pulling the trans is a total PITA but I've done clutch jobs on my other cars so I'm no newbie to that type of stuff. I just feel that it might be best to replace all the parts since I don't know if a seal of something is going out. (There are no leaks, though.) I'm worried that I might be sitting at a stoplight with a car in front of me, trans in 1st gear and my clutch pedal depressed and all of a sudden, the hydraulics give out again and the car lurches forward and rams the BMW in front of me !

My friend from church (retired, old school mechanic) says to just change out the master cylinder and fluid. Bleed it good and call it a day. What do you say?????

BTW, I've already got a brand new Duralast master cylinder and slave cylinder (made by AP.) I've got a remote bleeder hose enroute from Monster Clutch Co.as well.

94Z28-MSTGKLR

iTrader: (20)

Sounds like you've already got it all figured out. If you aready have the parts you might as well install them and upgrade to dot 4 fuid.

dannyual777

I'm definitely leaning towards just replacing all of it.

SWEET98SS

iTrader: (8)

If it was me, I would replace both. I would go with the tick master and speed bleeder and a new GM slave. I can bleed mine it 10 minutes , have the bleeder in the engine compartment. its a 1 man bleeder so its a piece of cake. Mine as well do it right the first time.

dannyual777

I'm familiar with the Tick master cylinder but I'm confused about the "GM slave." I thought that the "GM slave" was made by AP (in Mexico) . Mine is an Autozone Duralast branded slave with "AP" cast into the metal. I think that I read that this is the GM slave. Is this right or am I totally off base on this?

94Z28-MSTGKLR

iTrader: (20)

From my understanding you are correct. The duralast part is the same. I don't know from first hand experience but I've seen this information posted a million times on here.

jmd

iTrader: (4)

Getting the old fluid full of clutch dust out and new fluid in is what's needed. I'd drill mod it too.

JMD method to bleed it will help get all air out.

If you still have problems, then bother with the trans. drop & new slave IMO.

dannyual777

Yesterday, my father-in-law and I changed out the old, black, contaminated clutch fluid. We didn't mess with anything else in the clutch system.

I will test drive the car and report back later. I'm sure it's going to work fine but I'll admit to being a little worried that the problem might happen again. I might start sitting at red lights with the transmission in neutral "just in case."

dannyual777

Finally took the car out for a drive to go pick up a pizza. The clutch feels different in that the clutch engages closer to the floor. In other words, as I'm letting up on the pedal, the clutch will start to grab closer to the floor than it used to.

Does this mean anything???

Other than that, it worked great but I was making sure that I put the transmission in neutral at every stoplight just in case .

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

I would drive it some and change it again.

SWEET98SS

iTrader: (8)

I have all new hydraulics and I change my fluid often. I have the speed bleeder so it takes 10 minutes. You can definetly tell the difference with new fluid.

dannyual777

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Yesterday, I drove the car 15 miles of in-town driving. Here are the things that I've noticed:

1. The clutch engages (starts to smoothly grab) with the pedal closer to the floor than before.

2. With the engine off, I can no longer put the shifter into reverse. In fact, I can't even move the shifter to the far right much less put it into the reverse detent!

3. At one stoplight, I couldn't even get the shifter into first gear. I had to take off in second .

4. Checked the clutch fluid and it is still very clean.

Obviously things are not right. Any opinions??

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

Even though you replaced the fluid, your clutch hydraulics need to be bled. Do it now before you mess something up. If you have a speed bleeder, I would pull the trans and install that at the same time.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

Why? I have changed my fluid 3 times, I do it before every trackday. I have never "bled" the system.

Why would you? You are not opening the system, are you implying he has air in the system?

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

I understand what you are saying FASTFATBOY and agree with you under most circumstances, however I said what I said because of his reply #3. It appears to me things are still not completely releasing properly or he would have been able to get into first at the light. Bleeding the hydraulics is much cheaper and less time consuming than a transmission (or nose) repair.

As for #2, I don't think you can slide to reverse with the key off - I can't in my WS6.

dannyual777

I think that you're 100% correct. I searched this topic for about 2hrs last night and that is what I read.

After the latest search, I also feel that I should bleed the system "just in case." Like FASTTATBOY said, I don't think that I got any air in the system. However.......I don't know that for certain. I was using a large 2-stroke oil mix syringe to suck the old, nasty fluid out of the clutch master cylinder. I would pretty much suck it dry then fill it back up with fresh new brake fluid. Perhaps some how the new brake fluid trapped an air bubble in there and it got sucked down the system when my father-in-law started pumping the clutch pedal ?

My speed bleeder hose from Monster Clutch came in right before Christmas but I don't want to pull the tranny just to install that. I think I'll try bleeding the system via the JMD method with the spark plug boot. If bleeding the clutch hydraulics doesn't fix the problem, then I'm going to have to install the Duralast (AP) clutch master cylinder. If that doesn't work, then I'll have to install my Duralast (AP) slave cylinder and remote bleeder hose.

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

You're not supposed to tamper with the stock hydraulic system because they're completely sealed. They wear out after 80k or a few years and need to be replaced because they have trouble pulling up the pressure plate. You can get a new system (connected master + slave, already filled) for <$200 from a dealership.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

DId the clutch feels "soft" when you couldnt get it into first?

As far as the poster above me saying the hydraulics"can't putt the pressure plate up".

You obviously DON'T have a good working knowledge of LS1 clutch operation, the clutch spring(fingers) push the throwout bearing back which in turn pushes the pedal up.

1sick'98WS6

iTrader: (19)

autozone's got the same thing for like 70 bucks a piece & a better warranty. Thats a no brainer, makes me regret going with the gm stuff

dannyual777

No. If I remember correctly the clutch felt normal but it just wouldn't to into first gear. No problems at subsequent stoplights.

If I had air in the system, would I expect a soft pedal all the time or just occasionally?

This is from my first post:
I'm really wondering if either the master or slave are going out? Just hate to do all that R&R of the transmission if the problem isn't there (slave).